I’ve continued a decent reading streak for the past month. I finished off eight books (yes, two of them were junk food books during a rough week) and started another three while making some progress on a few others. And, of course, I added a few more to the list!
I will try to write up some reviews this month, but my schedule doesn’t really let up until June when I’ll have more time to write. I’d pick some favorites, but I’ve read such a range of styles and topics that it’s difficult to compare the books!
What I haven’t yet read this year is a quality adult fiction book that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.
I enjoyed my junk food books, but they are not quality. I’ve read several books that were fascinating or astounding or enlightening, but I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed them due to the difficult or intellectually challenging subject matter. I thoroughly enjoyed one quality book, but it was a children’s book. Although it wasn’t a fun book, The Chosen probably comes the closest. The narrative kept my interest and it was a fascinating window into a world so different from mine. It wasn’t cheerful, but it wasn’t brutal.
Did you read any enjoyable quality fiction this past month?
Here is my updated list.
The 2015 Book List Challenge
[*Added to original list]
Novels
A Girl of The Limberlost (ChocLit Guild)
Beloved [in progress]
The Signature of All Things [in progress]
*Gone with the Wind (ChocLit Guild)
Classics
Pride and Prejudice (ChocLit Guild)
Gulliver's Travels (An abridged re-telling)
Paradise Lost (ChocLit Guild)
Frankenstein [in progress]
No Name (Or something else by Wilkie Collins. ChocLit Guild)
Hamlet (CC Moms Book Club) [deep reading in progress]
Ancients
Children’s and YA Novels
The Door in the Wall (CC Challenge A)
A Gathering of Days (CC Challenge A)
Crispin: The Cross of Lead (CC Challenge A)
Where the Red Fern Grows (CC Challenge B)
Junk Food
Non-Fiction
Biography/History
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (ChocLit Guild)
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris (ChocLit Guild)
The Hiding Place (CC Challenge B)
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Faith, Culture, and Education
The Pursuit of God (ChocLit Guild) [in progress]
Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Human in an Ideological Age (CiRCE Conference)
Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education (CiRCE Conference) [in progress]
The Soul of Science (CC Parent Practicum)
Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art (CC Parent Practicum)
Invitation to the Classics: A Guide to Books You've Always Wanted to Read
*Just Walk Across the Room (ChocLit Guild)
Re-Reads
*The Bronze Bow (CC Challenge A)
*The Question (CC Moms Book Club) [deep reading in progress]
*A Tale of Two Cities (reading aloud) [in progress]
*Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll [audio book/read aloud in progress]
*Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (read aloud)
All the Light We Cannot See!!! Best Fiction I've read in years. In top 10 all time favorites.
ReplyDeleteI read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn this last month and loved it. Also, Till We Hves Faces by C.S. Lewis, which I really enjoyed but then bought the guide from CAP to work through this Summer so I can understand a bit more of it. �� You have a great list for the year!
ReplyDeleteHave you read any Elizabeth Goudge? If not, run don't walk to a copy of The Scent of Water or the Eliot Family trilogy. Quality adult fiction!
ReplyDeleteJennie~ I've heard such great things about that one. I just put it on hold at the library, but I think I might be waiting a while...
ReplyDeleteBecca Jean~ I'm glad to hear you loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I could probably read through Till We Have Faces 10 times and still need help understanding more of it. :D
Crunchyconmommy~ I loved The Scent of Water and The Dean's Watch by Goudge, but I haven't tried the Eliot Family. It takes me quite a while to get into her books, but they are worth it!
Also, the Storied Life of AJ Fikry. A lovely book with many literary references that make it that much more fun.
ReplyDeleteJennie~ That one looks wonderful! I've added it to my library holds, as well. :)
ReplyDeleteI love the list. but then, I love lists.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you have The Brothers K, and then later The Brothers Karamazov? I've heard the full title shorted to Brothers K often enough to wonder if you've got that book twice? And totally worth reading! Love it, and I love Crime and Punishment.
I just finished the Dune Series (only the ones originally writen, by Frank. Not the ones written by his son and Anderson). Wow, totally worth reading. But only adults... there are some mature issues dealt with. But there are things that are still relevant to our day and times, strangely, since I don't think Herbert was writing as a social commentary or such.
I've read quite a few on your list and yes, plenty that I finished and said never again. Others I plan to read again!
Mamarachael~ The Brothers K and The Brothers Karamazov are two different books. :) I don't have them listed in a particular order. I'd like to read The Brothers Karamazov first, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to endure! I've seen the book so many times on so many lists, but no one in our book club has been able to get into it to figure out why. Even the most talented reader in our group said that usually it helps (particularly with some of the difficult Russians) for her to listen to it first, but she said she couldn't even listen to it! My mom said it felt like she read and read and read and there was no point to anything. So I'm curious. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Dune, even though it isn't my usual genre.
Who is the author of Brothers K? I'm interested.
ReplyDeleteAh, found it on amazon.
ReplyDeleteAs for brothers karamozov, after reading crime and punishment, it was an 'easy' read. :P The hard part of the Russsian novels is keeping track of characters, I thought, and I think I had a character list to help me through, with all the nicknames and such.
You might start with reading the passage "The Grand Inquisitor". It can stand alone, and really gets one to think about freedom and security and the conflict there. And a summary of what each boy is about can help. I don't want to give too much away, and its been years since I read it. I just remember being sucked in and disappearing into their world.
Thanks for the encouragement and tips, Mamarachael. I appreciate it! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for updating your list. You are always an encouragement. I will look forward to hearing when you read a quality lit. book that you enjoyed. I'm sorry Godric wasn't that book for you! Bring on the reviews when your schedule allows.
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